OSAKA, Japan - Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani visited a 1-year-old baby boy with an intractable heart disease at a hospital in Osaka Prefecture on Saturday, an exchange that was realized after the baseball player learned that the baby had been named after him.

Ohtani, 24, had not met the baby, who is from Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, before, but the two had one thing in common - the 1-year-old was named Shohei by his parents, both of whom are great fans of the two-way star.

The meeting took place at the request of the parents' friends, who are conducting fundraising activities for a transplant surgery for Shohei Kawasaki. The friends asked Ohtani to cheer on the baby.

At 11 a.m., Ohtani, clad in a suit, entered a room of the hospital where little Shohei is staying. The baby's father, Taishi, asked Ohtani to hold the baby, saying, "This is Shohei."

Ohtani gently poked the baby's cheek several times and took the baby in his arms. "I always hope that you will keep fighting," Ohtani said to the baby. Then the two-way star handed gifts to Taishi, 30, and his wife, Shizuha, 33, including an autographed ball that read, "To Shohei."

Taishi said he named his son after the baseball star with the wish that his son would develop with a big ambition like that of the baseball player. The father talked to his son, saying, "When you've grown, let's go cheer [Ohtani] on."

After the about one-hour meeting, the couple talked to reporters. "Mr. Ohtani was big, both in his frame and his heart," Taishi said. "I hope that our Shohei will also become a warm, gentle person [like Ohtani]," Shizuha said.

Born in June 2017, Shohei Kawasaki was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, which involves symptoms such as shortness of breath caused by heart muscle problems. Since then, the baby has received treatments at the hospital, including wearing a ventricular assist device.

The only way to completely conquer the disease is to undergo heart transplant surgery. However, it costs about 350 million yen ($3.22 million), including travel costs, to receive the surgery in the United States, which has abundant experience with transplants. In June last year, Taishi's friends established a group to raise money to save the baby.

According to the group, Ohtani's personal manager and other sources, Shinpei Maruo, 33, who serves as a public relations officer at the group, made a request to Ohtani in December last year through a local newspaper in Hokkaido, where Ohtani's former team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, is based.

Ohtani willingly accepted the offer, saying: "It's my honor that [the baby] was named after me. Due to such a connection, I want to offer help by all means."

The meeting was arranged for Ohtani's planned return to Japan.

"Just a message of encouragement would have been more than enough, so when I heard that [Ohtani] himself would come, I was about to cry with happiness," Maruo said.

The group is collecting money through its website at https://saveshohei.com/